The present invention relates to an in-the-ear device for collecting cerumen (ear wax), attached to a hearing aid that can be customized to guard the hearing aid from the type of cerumen or ear wax found in a particular user's ear.
Modern hearing aids are designed to be worn in the ear of the user. These hearing aids have relatively small passageways for conducting sound. Excretions, referred to as cerumen or ear wax, from the ear tend to enter these passageways and build-up, ultimately blocking all or part of the receiver tube. If left alone, the build-up of the cerumen or ear wax can cause a serious malfunction of the hearing aid. In such cases, the hearing aid needs to be sent for repair with significant inconvenience to the user.
The patent literature contains a number of different devices for dealing with this problem. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,800,982 and 4,867,267, both to Carlson, illustrate an in-the-ear hearing aid having a cleaning passage which is accessible from outside of the hearing aid housing and which connects to the inner end of the sound outlet passage. Internal cleaning of the hearing aid is effected by pumping a solvent through a conduit formed by the cleaning passage, an acoustic chamber, and a sound outlet passage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,277 to Bisgaard et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,920 to Oliveira illustrate the use of filter elements in a hearing aid. The Bisgaard et al. patent illustrates a hearing aid having an exchangeable, external filter element which snaps onto a sound conduction tube. The Oliveira patent illustrates a disposable wax guard affixed over the sound outlet port of a hearing aid, which guard is adhered to sides of the hearing aid. The portion of the guard which overlies the sound outlet port is configured to be porous to sound and receptive to cerumen.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,569 to Kulman relates to an ear wax-protective device having a yoke joined to an auditory passage portion of a hearing aid. Supposedly, this arrangement makes it possible to easily remove accumulations of earwax without damaging sensitive electrical components in the hearing aid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,947 to Guggenberger et al. illustrates a wax guard for hearing aids. The wax guard is in the form of a coil of wire which is interference fitted within the receiver to provide a restrictive path for ear wax.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,360 to Carbe et al. relates to a wax guard system having a housing secured to the hearing aid shell and an insert which screws into the housing. The insert has a body having an internal passage therethrough and a bridge extending across the exterior opening of the passage. The bridge is higher at its center than at its ends and carries a thin domed disk which shields the opening and deters wax from entering the passage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,904 to Olsen illustrates a cerumen trap for hearing aids which comprises a sound channel and a plurality of perforations arranged in a stellate pattern around the sound channel which connects the sound outlet of an earpiece with the sound channel. A cylindrical component with a connecting piece which surrounds the sound channel is inserted in the hearing aid. A number of angle brackets with locking detents are arranged on the periphery of the component. The sound outlet opening can be closed off from the exterior by a cap which has a locking groove on the inner wall and which engages with the locking detents.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,689 to Weiss and U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,008 to Danielsen illustrate other ear wax traps. The Weiss ear wax barrier includes a housing defining a central axis of passage, as well as a plurality of projections and a variable acoustic attenuator. The projections extend inwardly from the interior surface of the housing with each projection partially occluding the cross-sectional area of the housing. The projections are intended to provide a tortuous path for ear wax migrating into the hearing aid. The variable acoustic attenuator and the projections provide a constricted passageway for damping of the acoustic response of the hearing aid. The Danielsen ear wax trap includes at least one piston or plug shaped member movable relative to another component for permitting collected ear wax to be expelled from the hearing aid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,282 to Luca illustrates a hearing aid having an internal duct system which prevents ear wax from reaching an electro-acoustic transducer within the hearing aid.
Many of these devices are difficult to manufacture and unnecessarily complex. Still others are difficult for patients, particularly elderly patients, to clean. Moreover, none of these devices are customizable to the type of cerumen found in a particular wearer's ear canal.